


Mirage

by 00AwkwardPenguin00



Series: Dragon of the Yuyan [18]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Episode: s02e04 The Swamp, Gen, Short, Zuko can't get over how creepy this place is, not much else to add, short and weird, special guest star - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-18
Packaged: 2021-03-05 04:48:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25358713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/00AwkwardPenguin00/pseuds/00AwkwardPenguin00
Summary: The swamp is dark, and gross, and creepy as all get out. Zuko would really like to leave please.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka & Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Dragon of the Yuyan [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1582384
Comments: 262
Kudos: 3059





	Mirage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MuffinLance](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MuffinLance/gifts).



> Gonna be honest, y'all, I'm not hugely thrilled with this one, but I got sick of looking at it, so here.

The swamp is _creepy as fuck._ It’s so dark, even as Zuko’s sense of the sun tells him that it’s just past midday. The trees are _huge_ and draped in a soft-looking moss that _itches_ when it comes in contact with skin. 

Zuko keeps his hand on the grip of his swords as Sokka leads them blindly through the foliage, clearing their path with his machete. Aang keeps telling him to stop, that he _really, really thinks the swamp doesn’t like it_ , and as the swamp gets darker and darker as Agni descends for his night’s rest, Zuko grows more and more inclined to agree with him. There’s definitely something _off_ about this swamp, and the sooner they find Appa and Momo and get the fuck out of here, the better.

They finally make camp for the night and despite all of Zuko’s expectations manage to fall asleep.

Zuko wakes up when something wraps around his ankle. He draws his dao, but he’s not fast enough to prevent himself from being flung like a pebble from a slingshot what feels like halfway across the swamp. It’s a miracle he doesn’t smash face-first into a tree.

As it is, he still does a prize-winning belly-flop into the gunky water and has to fight through the initial shocked paralysis to sit up before he drowns. For a moment he simply kneels in the water, trying to get his breath back, before staggering to his feet, sheathing his dao, and sparking a flame in his hand.

He has no clue where he is.

There are still three hours to go before sunrise. He can’t hear any of his friends, and he can’t send up a signal—either the fireblast will be smothered and rendered invisible by the foliage, or the horrible-smelling swamp gas will turn out to be flammable and he’ll end up blowing up the entire swamp. Which, considering how _fucking creepy_ this place is, Zuko may or may not be totally fine with, but it's not worth the ear-bending lecture Aang (and potentially Katara, given how she seems inclined to take Aang's side on quite a few things lately) would deliver as a result. 

Looks like there's nothing for it but to pick a direction and hope it's the right one. So Zuko does.

He feels the sun rise hours later, but the shadows of the swamp only seem to grow deeper. His legs are sore from slogging through the thick mud. He's tired, and hungry, and just so ready to drag his stinking carcass into Appa’s saddle and pass out.

And then something flickers in the corner of his eye.

Zuko’s peripheral vision on his left side is shit, and has been since the Agni Kai. He turns his head to get a better look—

But nothing’s there.

He blinks and glances around, and all he sees are slimy tree trunks, nasty vines, and murky swamp water. Nothing happening except swamp life doing its thing.

He shrugs, turns around, and comes face to face with Lu Ten.

The sound that gets strangled halfway up Zuko’s throat would have made Sokka wet himself laughing, but Lu Ten simply smiles in that kind way he got from Uncle Iroh. He looks _exactly_ the same as he had when he'd left for the Siege of Ba Sing Se–– not a single hair astray from his neat topknot, armor well-fitted and pristine. He's glowing with a weird pale light.

Zuko is _very_ freaked out.

Lu Ten's smile grows, and he turns and starts walking away. Without input from his brain, Zuko's feet begin to follow.

Zuko had worshipped Lu Ten all of his life. The eldest grandson of Fire Lord Azulon had been ten years Zuko’s senior, and everything Zuko had wanted to be—strong, brave, an amazing firebender, charming and clever and commanding, but still kind to the scrawny kid who had dogged his steps and begged for demonstrations of firebending tricks. He had been devastated when the news had come from Ba Sing Se that his hero cousin, the future Fire Lord, had died at the Walls. Even now, six years and hundreds of miles away from the Caldera Palace, following even a spirit of Lu Ten is instinctive. 

It’s weird as fuck, and so creepy he doesn’t even want to think about it for too long, but this is the safest Zuko has felt since leaving the Stronghold. Certainly since arriving at the North Pole.

He follows Lu Ten's spirit through the swamp, afraid to look away from him in case he disappears. After what feels like minutes but could certainly be hours, Lu Ten stops, and Zuko does as well. 

The spirit turns to him with a sad smile, and places an incorporeal hand on his shoulder. 

_Stick to your path, little cousin,_ his voice whispers, barely recognizable and yet as familiar to Zuko as the dao on his back. _Tell Dad I love him._

Before Zuko can raise his hands to reply, Lu Ten disappears, and then a tangle of bodies slams into him.

**Author's Note:**

> Next time: **Miscommunication**


End file.
